Nearly 3 in 10 business entrepreneurs start with no working capital, making it seriously challenging to survive the first few years of business, according to the US Census Bureau. With the credit and economic crisis still taking its toll, many minority small businesses are finding it even more difficult to get the attention of banks, lenders and investors. According to the State of African American Business Survey supplied by the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), African American-owned businesses grew from 1997 to 2002 at the astounding rate of 45%, over three times the national average of 10%. The 2002 survey states these businesses have a total gross receipt of $88.8 billion, and an average gross receipt of $74,000; and they employ 756,000 employees, a 5% increase from 1997.

The dramatic increase of minority small businesses means that more and more owners need assistance, funding, and general guidance. Financial companies who want to remain viable in this market must implement programs that address the needs of minority small business owners. Institutions must do more than include ethnic faces in their imagery – they should familiarize themselves with the realities of diverse cultures and the demographic-specific needs of their businesses. After all, these small businesses are the engines moving the economy forward and keeping Americans working.

Conversely, to get the funding needed to start or grow a business, entrepreneurs must make sure they have the necessary paperwork and information for a comprehensive and cohesive application. With small business lending down, entrepreneurs must demonstrate reliability, trustworthiness, and a good track record to show that they have what lenders, banks, brokers or investors are looking for in an applicant.

The business owner must prepare a written business plan and financial statements. This might be overwhelming to many owners, but help can be found at various non-profit and government websites. A few good resources include: the Small Business Association (SBA), the Senior Core of Retired Engineers (SCORE), and the IRS (irs.gov/business/small).

If you’re just getting started, follow this checklist from the Minority Business Development Agency (mbda.gov) to make sure you have properly set up your business and have the documents you need to approach banks:

• Decide if your business will be a limited liability company (recommended), sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation.
• Contact the Secretary of State if you decide to incorporate and get a Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN)
• Contact the States Employment Development Department for important unemployment materials and the Workers Compensation Department.
• Check with the local and state offices for license regulations.
• Get all necessary information and paperwork from the IRS.

As follow-up to the National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP) panel at Houston Community College (HCC), here is the infographic I referenced on how much music artists would really have to sell via physical CD or album sales or through various website downloads – including iTunes, CDbaby, Rhapsody, Last.fm, and Spotify – to make minimum wage. The data includes breakdowns of what percentage of each unit sale bands would receive versus how much the distributor (or record label) keeps. Infographic courtesy of InformationIsBeautiful.net

Tonight at Houston Community College, the National Association of Recording Industry Professionals (NARIP) presents a workshop on “How to Use Social Media to Promote Music.” AYN Brand’s own Grace Rodriguez will join Madalyn Sklar, Matthew Wettergreen, and NARIP Executive Director Barry Coffing, to discuss how musicians, bands, agents, managers and record labels can develop and leverage an effective social media strategy to promote their work.

Wednesday, April 15, 2010 : 7:00 p.m.
Houston Community College
Spring Branch Campus
1060 West Sam Houston Parkway
The Screening Theater
Houston, TX 77043

Following is the workshop abstract:

A digital strategy can mean the difference between “Who are you?” and “Wow, look at how many albums you’ve sold!”

You will learn:
- Blogging for fun and profit
- Ways to update ALL your social media at once
- Secrets to building an online community of fans who support the artist financially
- Increase Web traffic: 3 things you can do to double your readers in 30 days
- Get people to comment on your posts.
- How to write magnetic headlines, killer content and other tricks that generate more traffic to your site
- How to get ratings and reviews
- Calls to action: How to get people to Buy This Now!
- Twitter, Microblogging and Media Sharing
- Social News & Bookmarking: Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Delicious and niche sites

With Guest Speakers:
- Grace Rodriguez, Founder, AYN Brand
- Madalyn Sklar, President, Social Networks For Musicians
- Matthew Wettergreen, Co-Founder, Caroline Collective
- Barry Coffing, NARIP Houston (moderator)

Get more details and register at www.narip.com.

We’re working on a design overhaul here at AYN Brand. While we’re quite happy with the logo, we think it’s time to freshen up our print collateral and Web site to reflect some good news to be announced by the end of April 2010. The first piece we’re focusing on for this re-design is our business card. In the search for inspiration, a few interesting ideas popped up we thought deserved to be shared…

We took note from the following “Your Business Card is Crap” video to avoid flimsy cardstock, bland colors…and over-thought, over-priced design. In all honesty, four dollars per business card is a wasteful expense for a card that will probably end up in a drawer or under a pile somewhere, since it won’t fit in a standard card holder or wallet:

Then we saw what James Alliban of Augmatic and Skive did with his augmented reality business card and were amazed. While the graphic design on the card could be improved, the concept of layering information onto it that could be accessed via a webcam and the Internet is truly innovative:

AR Business Card from James Alliban

We’d pick the regular-sized augmented reality (AR) business card over the square die-cut pop-up any day of the week. The interactive nature of the card makes it one of the most impressive cards we’ve seen. Based on the “Crap” points of critique, employing an AR business card is more likely to be effective at stimulating interest in AYN Brand, generating discussion about our design capabilities, and building an audience for our company’s services. And, it won’t get buried in a drawer (or trash bin) somewhere. If the AR card’s viral success is any indication, people will most likely keep the card in their wallets at all times, so they can share the novelty of it with other people. Guaranteed.

While entrepreneurs can find answers to many of their questions for free at Nolo.com, some prefer more personal interaction. If you’re in Houston, the Mayor’s Office of Affirmative Action and Contract Compliance and Houston Business Development, Inc., are sponsoring a “Business Law 101″ seminar for business owners who want to learn more about basic legal issues affecting small businesses.

February 2, 2010
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Business and Technology Center (Palm Center)
5330 Griggs
Houston, TX 77021

For more information, to register for the class, or if you are a person with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation, please call the City of Houston’s Mayor’s Office of Affirmative Action and Contract Compliance at 713.837.9043 (Relay Texas 1.800.735.2989 or 711). You may e-mail your registration by sending your name, company name, address, telephone number, and the name of the class to Juan Padilla at juan.padilla@cityofhouston.net.